Patterns and traits associated with invasions by predatory marine crabs

By

Swart, Cheruscha
Visser, Vernon
Robinson, Tammy B.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2018

Original Publication

NeoBiota : advancing research on alien species and biological invasions

Volume

39

Pages

79-102

Subjects

Biological invasions , establishment success , Shipping , trait analysis

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sophia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.39.22002

 

Abstract

Predatory crabs are considered amongst the most successful marine invasive groups. Nonetheless, most studies of these taxa have been descriptive in nature, biased towards specific species or regions and have seldom considered traits associated with invasiveness. To address this gap in knowledge, this study presents a global review of invasions by this group and applies biological trait analysis to investigate traits associated with invasion success. A total of 56 species belonging to 15 families were identified as having spread outside their native ranges. The family Portunidae supported the highest number of alien species (22). Most crabs had their origin in the North West Pacific IUCN bioregion while the Mediterranean Sea received the most species. No traits associated with successful establishment were identified, but this finding may reflect the paucity of basic biological knowledge held for many species. This lack of foundational knowledge was unexpected as crabs are large and conspicuous and likely to be well studied when compared to many other groups. Addressing this knowledge gap will be the first step towards enabling approaches like biological trait analysis that offer a means to investigate generalities in invasions.